11:2 Toxic Xenophobia

When and Where Did I Find It:   I attended the School of Education Autum Lecture Series last Thursday night.  One of the presenters was Dr. Rachel Bailey Jones who gave a presentation titled, ""Mosques, Minarets and Meaning: Graphic Xenophobia and its Implications for Educators."   She explained at the start of her talk that she had changed the term "graphic xenophobia" to "toxic xenophobia." 
Full citation 
Bailey Jones, R. (2010, November). Mosques, Minarets and Meaning: Graphic Xenophobia and its Implications for Educators.   A faculty presentation at the School of Education Autumn Lecture Series.  Nazareth College, Rochester, NY.  


What it means: The term toxic xenophobia is a term Dr. Bailey Jones has conceptualized to describe a particularly zealous, and politically powerful form of xenophobia.  She defined the term in relationship to two other forms of xenophobia:   

1. Exclusive xenophobia- you are fundamentally different from us and therefore exist outside of our imagined community.
2. Possessive xenophobia- you are fundamentally different from us and outside our imagined community AND you are trying to take our jobs, education, tax dollars, medical care, etc.
3. Toxic xenophobia- you are fundamentally different from us and outside our imagined community AND you are trying to destroy that which we hold most dear. (Bailey Jones, 2010)

Level of Familiarity: I had never heard of this term before.

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why?   I do feel a sense of urgency to carefully consider what Rachel has suggested and how to identify this particular type of xenophobia.  As Rachel suggested, it is particularly important for socially responsible educators to consider the varying degrees of xenophobia and the particular xenophobic attitude that has developed in the United States and Europe against the Muslim people, their  religious practices, and their cultural practices.   

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so WHO and WHY?   
I do think it is worthwhile for Nazareth education students and faculty (as well as the Naz community at large) to what this term means.  If we are going to be a campus that fulfills its promise to be a place which reflects the tenants of social responsibility and critical consciousness, then it would do all "citizens of Naz" well to know this term.